Japan's lower house on Friday passed a bill to ratify the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact, paving the way for its enactment before the current Diet session ends in June. (Japan Today)

Police in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture, have arrested a 28-year-old painter on suspicion of sexually molesting a woman in her home last September. (Japan Today)

A sake produced by a brewery in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi won the top prize in its category Friday for the second year in a row at an international sake contest held in northeastern Japan. (Kyodo)

Japanese teenage shogi chess sensation Sota Fujii has set a new record. The 15-year-old high school freshman has become the youngest player to achieve the rank of 7th-dan. (NHK)

Torrential rain has hit northeastern Japan. The Meteorological Agency is warning of landslides, overflowing rivers and flooding in the region. (NHK)

Japanese actor Ken Watanabe, who has appeared in a number of American films including the 2003 period drama "The Last Samurai," has split with his actress wife Kaho Minami, their agencies said Thursday. (Japan Today)

Hideki Saijo, a singer popular in Asia and best known for his cover song of the megahit “Y.M.C.A.,” died of acute heart failure Wednesday, his office said. He was 63. (Japan Times)

More than 90 percent of child abuse and sexual crime victims and their families didn’t receive compensation from their assailants, nor public financial assistance, largely due to the lack of awareness on the consultation services available, police data showed Thursday. (Japan Times)

Kyoto City officials have discovered about 100 bamboo plants in the city's Arashiyama district vandalized. (NHK)

We’re no strangers to the power of a good camera. Last year’s 4K introductory video to the San’in region, with its gorgeous foliage and eerily perfect beaches, set an incredibly high standard. Now, Akita-based cinematics company Armadas is here to push that standard doubly high, with eye-searing, gorgeous shots from a number of locales around Japan – in 8K resolution. (Japan Today)

A Japanese court gave three Taiwanese women suspended sentences Wednesday after finding them guilty of attempting to smuggle gold worth 50 million yen into the country by hiding it in their bras. (Japan Today)

An online video of more than 30 wild deer running through a residential area in Nara city, western Japan, has gone viral. (NHK)

Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a female professional wrestler over the alleged used of stimulant drugs, reports TBS News (tokyoreporter.com)

A monk working for a temple at the World Heritage Site of Mt Koya in western Japan has filed a damages suit, claiming he developed depression and was forced to take a leave of absence because of his heavy workload, a lawyer representing him said Wednesday. (Japan Today)

Police arrested a couple in their 20s on Wednesday for allegedly starving to death their 1-year-old son who was found weighing just 3.8 kilograms, less than half the average weight for a child of his age. (Japan Today)

A Suntory Holdings Ltd. subsidiary will suspend selling two leading whisky brands due to a shortage of unblended whisky amid the growing popularity of the spirit at home and abroad. (Kyodo)

A 22-year-old woman has been arrested in Adachi Ward in Tokyo on suspicion of fatally stabbing her boyfriend. (Japan Today)

The world’s first cloned cow died of old age Monday, according to the prefectural government of Ishikawa. (Japan Times)

The organizing committee for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games proposed a ¥288,000 ($2,600) cap on entry prices for the games’ opening ceremony at a ticket sales strategy meeting Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Despite advances in treatment, the number of newly confirmed cases of HIV in Japan has remained flat for the past decade, a sign that misconceptions about the disease are making progress towards eradication difficult. (Japan Today)

Police in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, are investigating the death of a 25-year-old demolition worker who was found in the back seat of a minicar parked outside his home on Sunday. An extension cord was tightly wound around his neck, Fuji TV reported. (Japan Today)

A 23-year-old man who was arrested Monday night in connection with the murder of a 7-year-old girl in the city of Niigata has admitted he killed the girl, investigative sources said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga said Tuesday that he underwent surgery in April to have a cancerous pancreatic tumor removed. (Japan Times)

New commercial satellite imagery has provided the first definitive evidence that North Korea is dismantling its Punggye-ri nuclear test site ahead of a scheduled ceremony next week to mark the event, U.S. researchers said Monday. (Japan Times)

A 6-year-old girl was fatally stabbed with a knife Sunday when a relative attacked her family at a pub near Inage Station in the city of Chiba. (Japan Times)